Japan

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After Decade Without Fatal Bear Attacks, a Chilling Shift in Japan

College student among at least 5 people thought to have been killed by bears this year

(Newser) - Prior to this year, no fatal bear attacks were reported in Japan for more than a decade. Now, police in the country are investigating what's thought to be at least the fifth such attack of 2023. Police on the northern Hokkaido island, where brown bears roam, say the body...

Undersea Volcano Gives Japan a New Island
Japan Just Gained
a New Island
Nov 9, 2023 4:17 AM CST

Japan Just Gained a New Island

But it's not clear how long the island spawned by volcano will last

(Newser) - An undersea volcano erupted off Japan three weeks ago, providing a rare view of the birth of a tiny new island, but experts say it may not last very long. The unnamed undersea volcano, located about half a mile off the southern coast of Iwo Jima, which Japan calls Ioto,...

Court Rules on Law Requiring Sterilization for Gender Change

Japanese measure makes surgery a prerequisite

(Newser) - Japan's Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that a law requiring transgender people to undergo sterilization surgery in order to officially change their gender is unconstitutional. The decision by the top court's 15-judge Grand Bench was its first on the constitutionality of Japan's 2003 law requiring the removal...

Two 737s Couldn't Handle Weight of Sumo Wrestlers

Japan Airlines had to add extra flight to bring large men to festival on southern island

(Newser) - Japan Airlines had to take what it says was a "very unusual" step when numerous sumo wrestlers tried to travel to one of the country's southern islands on the same day. The Guardian reports that the airline added an extra flight after determining that two flights carrying wrestlers,...

Hokkaido's Bears Are Starving Amid Fish Shortage

Up to 80% of brown bear cubs in one area have died

(Newser) - This is the time of year when brown bears in Japan's northernmost island usually feast on salmon, packing on weight to prepare for hibernation. But this year, salmon numbers are very low and bears on Hokkaido's Shiretoko Peninsula are starving. Last week, people on a tour boat captured...

Japan's Dementia Treatment 'Has Now Entered a New Era'

Country with rapidly aging population OKs its first Alzheimer's drug

(Newser) - Japan's Health Ministry has approved Leqembi, a drug for Alzheimer's disease that was jointly developed by Japanese and US pharmaceutical companies. As the AP reports, it's the first drug for treatment of the disease in a country with a rapidly aging population. Developed by Japanese drugmaker Eisai...

Japan Hits a Gray Milestone
Japan Hits a
Gray Milestone
Sep 19, 2023 1:30 PM CDT

Japan Hits a Gray Milestone

Nation clocks in with more than 10% of population over age 80 for first time

(Newser) - It is very, very common knowledge that the median age of Japan's population is, well, not associated with the term "spring chicken." With what the BBC reports is the planet's oldest population—the yardstick there being the percentage of people 65 or older, of which Japan...

With This Rocket Launch, Japan Hopes for a 'Qualitative Shift'

SLIM lunar lander is set to reach moon in February, hopefully within just hundreds of feet of its target

(Newser) - Last month, India became the fourth nation to achieve a moon landing . Japan wants to be No. 5, and this week it launched a $100 million mission that it hopes will help it achieve that goal. The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said its H-IIA rocket took off Thursday morning...

Japan Weighs Moving Against Unification Church

Government is investigating fundraising activities

(Newser) - Japan's government, which is investigating the Unification Church's fundraising practices in light of the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, is considering going to court to have the church dissolved if the evidence gathered is convincing. A Japanese newspaper, the Asahi Shimbun, reported that government officials said...

In China, an Unusual Tactic to Boost Young Marriage

One region is bestowing cash for brides under 25

(Newser) - Officials in one part of China are urging people to get married at a young age, with cash as an incentive. Couples who marry in Zhejiang province's Changshan County when the bride is 25 or younger will receive a $137 cash bonus, the county announced last week, noting the...

Japan to China: Stop the Abusive Phone Calls

Country speaks out about Chinese complaints over release of Fukushima wastewater

(Newser) - Some in China are extremely unhappy about the release of treated radioactive wastewater from Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, placing abusive phone calls to government departments, schools, restaurants, even a concert hall and aquarium in Japan, per the BBC . More than a million tons of treated radioactive wastewater...

Doctor in Japan Kills Self After 200 Hours of Overtime in a Month
Doctor in Japan Kills Self After
Working 100 Days Straight
in case you missed it
Aug 27, 2023 2:45 PM CDT

Doctor in Japan Kills Self After Working 100 Days Straight

He worked more than 200 hours of overtime in a month, labor office says

(Newser) - Before he took his own life last year, a young doctor in Japan had worked 100 days in a row and put in more than 200 hours of overtime in a month, according to the country's labor standards inspection office. Relatives of 26-year-old Takashima Shingo, who killed himself after...

US, Japan, and South Korea Agree to Consult in Crisis

Nations also expand economic ties in Camp David meeting

(Newser) - President Biden and the leaders of Japan and South Korea agreed Friday to expand security and economic ties at a historic summit at the presidential retreat of Camp David. Their meeting comes at a time when the three countries are on an increasingly tense ledge in their relations with China...

In Rare Camp David Summit, 3 Nations Will Gather
'Something Special' Is About
to Go Down at Camp David
THE RUNDOWN
Aug 18, 2023 8:23 AM CDT

'Something Special' Is About to Go Down at Camp David

In rare summit at Maryland retreat, President Biden, Japan PM, South Korean president to meet

(Newser) - On Friday, President Biden will host a summit at Camp David with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, "bridging generations of friction between the two Asian powers to forge mutual security arrangements in the face of an increasingly assertive China," reports the...

Chinese Cyberattack on Japan Called 'Shockingly Bad'

China reportedly hacked into Japan's classified defense networks in just-revealed 2020 attack

(Newser) - In an incident that reportedly happened in 2020 but is only just now being revealed, a dozen anonymous sources tell the Washington Post that China hacked into Japan's classified defense networks. A former US military official who was briefed on the cyberattack tells the Post, "It was bad—...

4 People Attacked by Dolphins on Japan Beach

Officials are warning swimmers away from the water if dolphins are seen

(Newser) - Over the course of one day on a central Japan beach, four people were attacked by dolphins. Early Sunday, a man in his 60s was attacked a few yards off the popular Suishohama Beach in the town of Mihama, Fukui prefecture; he was left with broken ribs and bites to...

Teenager Carves Name at Ancient Temple

Police in Japan question and release 17-year-old, who still could face charges

(Newser) - A teenage boy was caught scratching a name into an 8th-century temple in Japan, police say, weeks after a young tourist was filmed leaving his mark on the Colosseum in Rome. The 17-year-old Canadian carved "Julian" on a wooden pillar with his fingernail at the Toshodaiji Kondo temple complex...

UN Watchdog to Japan: OK to Dump Wastewater in Sea

Critics aren't happy about release of radioactive water from Fukushima nuclear power plant

(Newser) - A little radioactive water in the Pacific? Not that big a deal, at least according to the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, which gave the OK Tuesday for Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to dump more than a million tons of treated wastewater into the Pacific Ocean. NPR notes...

16K Were Forcibly Sterilized Under Japanese Law

The youngest victims were 9 years old, government report says

(Newser) - Japan's parliament has released a disturbing report on the forced sterilization program that took place under a eugenics law that lasted until 1996. The 1,400-page report, which followed a three-year investigation, found that children as young as nine years old were sterilized to stop them ever having "...

Japan's Age of Sexual Consent Is No Longer 13

Definition of rape broadened in overhaul of sex crime laws

(Newser) - Japan has passed what campaigners say is a long overdue overhaul of its sex crime laws. The new laws broaden the definition of rape and raise the age of sexual consent from 13 to 16, though a person who has sex with a minor between 13 and 15 will only...

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